The relative calm of a Monday morning should make it a bit easier on power restoration crews from Indiana Michigan Power Company today as work continues to get electricity back to businesses and homes affected by the huge windstorms of the weekend.
As of 9pm Sunday night, I&M crews, business partners and contractors had restored power to more than 10,000 of the customers affected by the high winds, which knocked down many trees and limbs, downing power lines and breaking more than 30 poles.
Numbers fluctuated throughout the day as windy conditions caused additional damage and hampered restoration efforts, at times gusting strongly enough to ground the utility’s bucket trucks.
More than 14,000 customers were affected in total, with peak numbers hitting 12,000. At 9pm last night approximately 3,450 customers remained without power on more than 300 widespread outages. The number and widespread nature will cause many repairs to go into today.
I&M says they will continue working to get everyone back on as quickly and safely as possible. The wind had slowed, by 9pm last night, but was still gusting enough to potentially cause more damage and outages, especially in Southwest Michigan. Authorities ask you to continue to be alert when you are outside. Watch for trees and limbs that may still fall, be cautious of debris, and avoid downed power lines. If you do lose power, you are asked to report it via the I&M app, IndianaMichiganPower.com/outages, or by calling 800311-4634.
OUTAGE COUNTS
Michigan total customers: 2,200
- Benton Harbor area: 1,250
- Buchanan area: 600
- Three Rivers area: 350
Indiana total customers: 1,250
- Fort Wayne area: 500
- South Bend/Elkhart area: 100
- Muncie/Marion area: 650
ESTIMATED TIMES of RESTORATION (ETRs) I&M expects to have all customers in each area restored by the times noted below:
MICHIGAN
- Benton Harbor area: 5 pm Monday
- Buchanan area: 4 pm Monday
- Three Rivers area: 6 pm Monday
INDIANA
- South Bend area: 3 pm Monday
- Elkhart area: 11 pm Sunday (11/15)
- Fort Wayne area: 10:30 pm Monday
- Avilla area: 11 pm Sunday (11/15)
- Decatur area: 11 pm Sunday (11/15)
- Muncie area: 11 pm Monday
- Marion area: 3:30 pm Monday
- Winchester area: 5:30 pm Monday
Individual outages will receive specific estimates as crews continue repairs. You can keep up with the latest information for your account on the I&M app, their outage map, or with automatic mobile alerts.
STAY INFORMED
I&M encourages customers to use the Indiana Michigan Power app to monitor the status of any outage affecting your home or business. IndianaMichiganPower.com/App You can sign up for text and email alerts on the app or at IndianaMichiganPower.com/Alerts See the location and status of outages using our outage map at IndianaMichiganPower.com/OutageMap
